motherhood • wifehood • workhood

Same

I am a first generation Canadian. I am proud to be Canadian. I love my country and what it stands for. I understand that while we may not be perceived as a world power house, we have a voice and aren’t afraid to use it.

Earlier last week the Supreme Court in the U.S. ruled to lift the ban on Federal Same-Sex Benefits and weddings in California. Now same-sex married couples get the same tax and other benefits as heterosexual couples. This is a win, as far as I’m concerned.

Canada became the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage in 2005. Where I live, in Ontario, it has been legal since 2003.

Along with Canada Day festivities and fireworks and long-weekend goodness, this weekend is also Pride Week 2013. An arts and cultural festival that celebrates diverse sexual and gender identities that ended with the parade of all parades! This year’s is the 33rd annual.

There are a lot of injustices in the world. A lot of things that happen that shouldn’t. A lot of hatred for no reason. Sexual and gender equality should be a no-brainer. Fighting for equality of any kind should not be present in 2013. It makes me sad to know that it is. It makes me sad to know that people still think these lifestyles are choices. That people lie to themselves and their families out of fear of being true to who they are.

I hope that my children can live in a world with less hatred, less stereotypes and more love. I grew up in a world where race was never a factor, or an issue in my life. My hope is that sexuality isn’t an issue for my kids. Who knows, maybe one day there will be peace in this world.

A girl can dream, right?!

In light of all these celebrations, today’s Music Monday song is Same Love by Macklemore, with Ryan Lewis, featuring Mary Lambert. I hope you will read the lyrics and hope that love is patient and kind, like the song says.

Same Love

By: Macklemore, with Ryan Lewis, featuring Mary Lambert
When I was in the 3rd grade
I thought that I was gay
Cause I could draw, my uncle was
And I kept my room straight
I told my mom, tears rushing down my face
She’s like, “Ben you’ve loved girls since before pre-K”
Trippin’, yeah, I guess she had a point, didn’t she
A bunch of stereotypes all in my head
I remember doing the math like
“Yeah, I’m good a little league”
A pre-conceived idea of what it all meant
For those who like the same sex had the characteristics
The right-wing conservatives think its a decision
And you can be cured with some treatment and religion
Man-made, rewiring of a pre-disposition
Playing God
Ahh nah, here we go
America the brave
Still fears, what, we don’t know
And God loves all His children
Is somehow forgotten
But we paraphrase a book written
35 hundred years ago
I don’t know

And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love, my love, my love
She keeps me warm [x4]

If I was gay
I would think hip-hop hates me
Have you read the YouTube comments lately
“Man that’s gay”
Gets dropped on the daily
We’ve become so numb to what we’re sayin’
Our culture founded from oppression
Yeah, we don’t have acceptance for ‘em
Call each other faggots
Behind the keys of a message board
A word routed in hate
Yet our genre still ignores it
Gay is synonymous with the lesser
It’s the same hate that’s caused wars from religion
Gender and skin color
Complexion of your pigment
The same fight that lead people to walk-outs and sit-ins
It’s human rights for everybody
There is no difference
Live on! And be yourself!
When I was in church
They taught me something else
If you preach hate at the service
Those words aren’t anointed
And that Holy Water
That you soak in
Is then poisoned
When everyone else
Is more comfortable
Remaining voiceless
Rather than fighting for humans
That have had their rights stolen
I might not be the same
But that’s not important
No freedom ’til we’re equal
Damn right I support it
I don’t know

And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love, my love, my love
She keeps me warm [x4]

We press play
Don’t press pause
Progress, march on!
With a veil over our eyes
We turn our back on the cause
‘Till the day
That my uncles can be united by law
Kids are walkin’ around the hallway
Plagued by pain in their heart
A world so hateful
Someone would rather die
Than be who they are
And a certificate on paper
Isn’t gonna solve it all
But it’s a damn good place to start
No law’s gonna change us
We have to change us
Whatever god you believe in
We come from the same one
Strip away the fear
Underneath it’s all the same love
About time that we raised up

And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can’t change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love, my love, my love
She keeps me warm [x4]